>> pope benedict gave his final sunday blessing in st. peter's square today. and cardnal en route to the cardinal helping to decide on the new pope. >> and he was asking for prayer saying this is one of the most important decisions he will ever have to make. thousands of washington's catholics at the shrine of the basilica honoring the service of pope benedict 16 whose resignation takes effect later this week. >> we celebrate the ministry. the ministry of pope benedict 16

and we say, thank you. thank you for your guidance. thank you for your leadership. thank you for your teaching. >> cardinal is one of 117 cardinals headed to the vatican to elect the next pope. he says he is preparing for the task prayerfully. >> i can't imagine that i will ever have to do anything as important as this. in the rest of my life. >> parishioners told us they will support whoever is chosen but they are holding out hope for some favorites. >> i am hoping that cardinal -- will be the one. >> i'm pulling for a third world pope myself. >> why is that? >> i think it's interesting to notice the is only growing in the third world africa, asia. >> the cardinal says it's unlikely the next pope will be from the u.s. >> someone young enough to take on this demanding job.

think of the travel alone that the pope has to do and at the same time have a sense of beauty for the foundation for wisdom. >> now the cardinal says he expects things to move along quickly. of course everyone is hoping a new pontiff will be in place for easter. abc 7. >> rozz another big news story, just five days left before the deep government spending cuts go into effect. today louisiana governor bobby jindal called the administration's warnings at or about impact of the cuts political theater. in thement to senate democrats hope to vote on a set of cuts that will replace the cuts for the next year. >> police are investigating a homicide-suicide on flower avenue. the police identified the victims this afternoon david and stephen hickman of the district.

police say the two men worked together at a special education school in d.c. >> and pamela, traffic was rerouted because of a small fire that broke out at the ford house office building. no word yet on what caused that fire and no one was injured. several streets around the office bidding were shut down for several hours while firefighters bat it would flames. >> a d.c. scools school is on the list to be shut down and as you can imagine not everyone is happy about this idea. richard reid went in to show the challenges kids will face. >> today we're going to watch the consequences of the closure. >> one of 15 d.c. schools scheduled for closure this fall. >> you know u going to miss it and wonder what they are really truly going to do with it in the back of their minds. >> these georgetown students who tutor here are hoping the school will be spared the budget acts. >> it's stag nating.

the money is being kept open. they are using it as a rec center but closing it as a school. >> its 147 students use only 37% of this building. >> it's underpopulated. >> 67-year-old milton brown attended years ago but torn by the notion of not using this notion as a school. >> if they fix it up and bus kids here to fill the population then it will be just fine. >> the d.c. schools will be sent to a school about .8 mile away. >> the transportation to get our kids back and forth kids. it's crazy. >> the -- they are concerned about k-6 youngsters walking along busy road washingtons and underground tunnels. >> in the morning it's rush hour. and you got kids darting across

the street. if their parents are not taking them to school. >> well, there is some good news. the school district said it will provide transportation or help provide safe planning routes. meanwhile we're told these closures will save the district about 8.5 million dollars. richard reid, abc 7 news. >> all right. well, we are less than two hours from hollywood's biggest event of the year, and as you can imagine some of the biggest stars are already making their way up and down that red carpet. >> recognizing two faces, we sent zeno -- sene simpson and things are looking good. how sit on the red carpet? >> great. star-studded. >> it's hectic out here. >> hear all that screaming from the various people who are already showing up. >> i've got a quick thing to say about tonight, watch the contest for best supporting actors.

because if robert de niro wins in an upset then it's going to be a win for silver linings playbook. >> the stars are here. they are passing by behind us. not only do they love the awards for the ceremony and -- but this is where you get the very best swag. >> yes. >> dragging bulging duffel bags out the door, stars like wayne knight of "seinfeld" fame with tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts. >> it's just pure getting free things. and then taking pictures with strange jers. >> but these aren't just any old things. cheech and chong's cheech map reen understands. >> you get free things and i got a helicopter. >> maybe not helicopters but

definitely chopper rides and the ultimate in helicopter lucksrie, private jet rentals. >> you actually pull your client to the aircraft and the pilots take your luggage, check your i.d. and you're on your way. >> everything about this oscar shopping experience is designed to wow you. 10-year-old deejay baby cheeno claims the title of world's youngest deejay and is no stranger to v.i.p. treatment. >> what do you have? >> a remote control cars. >> from the movie "flight" ordered a customized watch. >> i really like watches and i haven't had a new watch for a long time. >> and dennis christopher collected this leather tablet case. and another says it's all extremely generous, but stays companies that participate

actually get back 10fold whatever they give. >> they get placement in magazines like "us weekly" and we were in "wall street journal" last week. so they get tremendous exposure. >> so it's amazing all the celebrities. and what they leave with. >> baby chino in the house? i wouldn't be surprised if he made his way through. >> some wones and -- some washingtonians and we are proud of them. >> we are wishing them the very best. we're going to continue to keep an eye on everything from here at the red carpet. >> seems like fans are going crazy there. >> yes. sene. thanks so much. abc's coverage of the oscars begins immediately following our newscast. don't forget to tune into art and sene cutting the news story.

now oscar pistorius -- what charges his brother is facing coming up. >> parts of the mid-atlantic under a winter storm watch. i'll tell you the areas and how

>> a new twist in the murder case facing olympic competitor oscar pistorius but his brother is also accused of killing a woman. police have re-instated his brother in the 2008 traffic death of a woman who was a motorcyclist. pa storeous plans to fight the charges. >> and responding to the letters they received in the wake of the mas shooting the town estimate they received more than 175,000

pieces of mail. a small group of volunteers have been photographing all of them and posting them online. >> what's in store for the

>> just a few months ago a state of the art center opened in southeast washington to serve the neediest children to use tonse teach them life lessons. a tennis pro helping use her profession to help. >> this $10 million tennis center is the newest edition of southeast d.c. it's full of children who may not normally be drawn to tennis. >> our mission so serve the neediest children in washington d.c.

so all of our program covers the northeast to southeast portion of d.c. we didn't want kids to have to be bused up to be served. >> the executive director of the washington tennis and education foundation or wtef. the tennis star herself met up. in the 1990's she played the u.s. open and wimbledon on the women's tennis tour. after wimbledon she got a graduate degree and tennis pulled her back. more specifically the lessons of tennis. >> i think it gives them a lot of focus and confidence and teaches them they can rely on themselves. >> it serves 1,000 kids a year free often charge. they learn the game and get help with school work but the idea is not to create world class tennis players. >> it's to create world class people. >> it's a safe haven and family environment for children who

often get neither at home. she uses her experience in tennis and business experience to help these children and gets to watch these young children use tennis. >> sometimes i don't have a good day and i walk in the center and i smile. it's pretty amazing to know that you're having that kind of an effect on children. >> she also has three small children of her own. wtef was the first program in the country to combine academics with tennis training and she said the goal so double the number of children served. alison starling, abc 7 news. >> a good day to play tennis. >> a little windy, but hey, yes. whatever floats your boat. looking outside we are looking at windy conditions but the wind will ease as we move through the evening hours. it's 42 but the winds are around

42 miles per hour. it feels like 32 with the wind-chill factor. weatherbug in the case has 32 degrees in germantown. the wind gusts earlier tape around 35-37 miles per hour. leesburg at 35 degrees and the radio station, 36 a high of 47 and just goes to show you what a little sunshine can do this time of year in terms of warming our temperatures up. dulles at this hour,40. 48 in fredericksburg. expect temperatures to drop significantly over the next couple of hours thanks to the clear skies overhead. 30 in syracuse. 35 in detroit. the coldest air to the north and northwest and we will get shots of colder air as we move toward the middle of the week. this eventually moves on out of her but a complex storm system will impact our weather starting tomorrow night into tuesday, so enjoy the night and already a

storm watch in effect. tuesday, allegheny county will be part of the storm system moving through our area through the day on tuesday. we could see the start of a little bit of wintry mix. early, early tuesday morning before changing over to all rain. and parts of the region could see 3/4 to aen inch of rain by the time this all moves out of here. a significant icing event could be possible to the west of us. this all depends a lot on temperatures and elevation. this is what it looks like. our future cast will take us through the day. clouds will increase through the late afternoon hours and then we'll look for the wintry mix to move in. 8:00 tuesday morning moving through the day on tuesday and heavier bands of rain from the metro area. off to the west the higher elevations where they could be

looking at an icing eeverbt. mainly clear for tonight. day timente highs for tomorrow will make it from 45 to 50. winds not as strong out of the north. here's the weather showing unsettled weather on tuesday and the warm-up on wednesday and colder by next weekend. >> there was a lot to keep your eye on today. a lot of women in sports today in action. >> yes. the lady terps tried to create rivalry magic as the men deliver against duke and she had the best finish by a woman in the daytona 500. but was

>> and now toyota sports desk. brought to you by -- >> well, they have really should

have renamed this daytona 500 the danica 500. all week there was so much press about the godaddy driver, and she delivered. just not enough. she was the first woman ever to win the pole position. congrats to her starting first in the race and of course she came out to a huge applause. patrick gets out front after a caution becoming the first woman to lead the daytona 500 during the race. all these firsts pouring in. 18 laps to go danica still going strong. finding greg biffle and brad keselowski. danica still third. a crash in the back of the pack. a cautionary flag and the race is allowed to continue to the finish and it's jimmie johnson who wins his fifth daytona 500. but danica finished eighth and afterwards talks about her historic run. >> i'm honored but again these are things that just happen along the way, and i hope to --

i'm on the quest to be the best driver so i want to get to victory lane. these things happen and i'm proud but they are not the ultimate goals. >> even though u.v.a. lost to second ranked miami the coach said his team is in the right spot to make a run for the big dance. how did they do? hosting georgia tech. christian, justin anderson finding a an opening exploding in for the jam. you can hear the rim rattling. later in the half, anderson. check this out. foote away but hustlaled back. gets the ball, dribbles downcourt, makes the no-look pass to mitchell who lays it in. u.v.a. led at the break and keep it rolling. second half. cavs are rolling. taylor barnett comes around draining the three. u.v.a. wins 2-54.

-- 82-54. ty anna hawkins grabs the rebound and her jumper is good. the terps had too many defensive struggles. in for the easy lay-up. duke wins 75-59. nationals hosting the marlins. nothing like florida weather. we know it well. the grounds crew had to put the tarp on the field to cover a 66-minute rain delay. the two-run shot, over however the game would end after 10 innings in a 2-2-tied. earlier here on abc the lakers beat the mavericks and kobe bryant scored 38 points. response to dallas owner mark cuban's remark that he should be amnestied yex year in pay, bryant tweeted amnesty that. >> be right back.

>> well, if you didn't think we lived in one of the most beautiful places around. >> i wondered -- usually they are some place not local but take a look at this one. key bridge back in january. remember that really foggy night we had? check out this picture. it's really beautiful, and later this week i'm going to post a bunch of pictures his name is keveren. he has given us access to all his beautiful pictures so the photo gallery on www.wjla.com. let's talk about our forecast, tomorrow, lots of sunshine, 47 degrees. then tuesday a winter storm watch for western maryland and i have a feeling a good portion of the d.c. metro will have some

sort of advisory by tomorrow night. we're sitting on a bunch of shale gas. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪ ♪